Better With You

Part one

Matthew wasn't sure why he even bothered to show up to meetings anymore. It's not like anyone noticed him ever. Except before that one meeting awhile ago when Carlos mistook him for Alfred. Again. Or that other time when Arthur mistook him for Alfred. Again. It seems to be a recurring theme in Matthew's life to be mistaken for his brother.

This meeting was one of many about the company's employee costs and greenhouse contributions, seeing as consumers seemed to really like companies who were eco-friendly nowadays. Yet again, Arthur was trying to get Alfred to do something more about his large contributions to the greenhouse gases but Matthew wasn't sure how much was getting through. Alfred loves his Hummer too much to actually do anything about it.

It was when Alfred asked Francis what it was like sleeping with a guy who has a huge stick up his ass that Matthew knew that the meeting was no longer going to get anything else done. He stood up and was half way out the door when Arthur flew across the table towards Alfred.

It was a bit of a walk to where Matthew was staying in Paris from where the conference was being held. He didn't mind though. Paris was beautiful and so familiar. It was one of Matthew's favorite places to visit during his childhood and it was always saddening to leave his Paris apartment to go home. This time, it also allowed Matthew an escape from his home in Canada. A flashback to a simple kiss nearly caused Matthew tear up yet again.

The apartment honestly didn't offer Matthew much to do either. There wasn't much to watch on the television and he had forgotten to pack any books. He was about to go for a walk around the city when his eyes landed on a roll of duct tape.

Didn't Peter mention something about duct tape once…? Matthew thought. It seemed like something to keep his mind busy so 10 minutes later, Matthew found himself sitting on his bed with his thumbs taped to the palms of his hands, as if a dinosaur.

Why is this so amusing? Matthew tried picking up the roll of tape up only to drop it and have it roll it off the bed toward the bedroom door. He watched it roll toward the door, only then to realize that Sofie stood with the bedroom door wide open. The duct tape hit her foot but she didn't seem to notice.

"What the fuck, Mattie?" she asked, confused.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing? How did you get into my apartment?"

"Francis noticed you that you left early and was a bit worried about you. So he gave me the spare key…"

Matthew forgot that Francis had the spare key for Matthew's apartment here in Paris. He was also surprised by the fact that someone noticed he was gone. Then again, it was Francis.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'm fine."

"Mattie. You have your thumbs taped to your palms with bright purple duck tape. Are you sure you are okay?"

"Well. I was bored. And the tape was just sitting there and I remember Peter mentioning that this was really awesome so I thought I would try it and yeah." Matthew rushed through his explanation, completely embarrassed, and felt his face getting redder and redder. Sofie just blankly stared at him before laughing hysterically.

"I totally did not understand anything you just said," she said finally, after a moment or two. She was now sitting next to him on the bed but Matthew couldn't seem to make eye contact with her.

Matthew was now completely humiliated and just mumbled some things. Sofie still continued to giggle softly but her attention was now drawn to the bedroom window. It overlooked the city, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The giggling slowly faded away while Sofie walked over to the window from the bed.

"Is this seriously the view you come home to every day?"

"Yeah," Matthew answered sheepishly.

"Why would you leave? It's beautiful!"

"I know, eh? Francis helped me find it."

"The two of you are close huh?"

"Yeah, very. He's like family to me."

There was a brief moment of silence while the two looked out the window.

"Hey, wanna go grab some coffee? There's this cute café just down the street," Matthew asked.

"Sure, let's go."

They started to leave, only for Matthew to realize that his hands were still taped. He stopped and started to attempt to take the tape off, hoping to not draw attention to himself to save further embarrassment. Sofie turned around to see him struggling without his thumbs and started to laugh before taking pity and helping.

Later that night, Matthew knocked once on Francis' door before entering the modern apartment.

"Bonjour Mathieu! Arthur and Alfred are watching television. Voulez-vous une boire?" Francis peered his head around the corner, from the kitchen.

"S'il vous plait," Matthew answered and caught the bottle as Francis tossed it at him.

Matthew walked into Francis' living room to discover Arthur with a bag of frozen peas on his eye and Alfred with a huge swollen lip and a large bruise on his temple.

"Told you he could punch," Matthew told Alfred. "Pay up."

Alfred grumbled for a moment, pulled out a five out of his pocket, and shoved it at his brother. Arthur looked between the two brothers before asking,

"What the bloody hell was that?"

"Alfred bet me five bucks that you couldn't throw a decent punch," Matthew sat down on the chair nearest his brother and looked at Arthur. "But judging by the size of his lip and the color of that bruise, I'd say you can."

The British man's glare could have killed kittens with the amount of hatred he was sending Alfred. But Alfred just crossed his arms and attempted to mumble something. But with the swollen lip, it just came out as a bunch of gibberish. Matthew turned his attention away from the two onto the television and took a sip of his drink. Francis seemed to have pitied Alfred more (and probably bribed Arthur with something sexual) and had the television on a sports channel.

The three sat in silence (a slightly forced silence on Alfred's part) for awhile and just watched the football game. Francis finally came out of the kitchen with a tray of steaming food and sat between Alfred and Arthur on the couch, putting the tray on the coffee table.

Watching Alfred trying to eat without moving his lower lip too much soon proved to be more entertaining than the game. The other three soon just stared as he struggled with the food and was messier than usual. At last, Francis seemed to feel a bit of sympathy and started to help Alfred eat.

Silence filled the room again until Arthur had decided he had spent enough time in the same room as Alfred and decided to go to bed. It wasn't long after that Alfred decided to go back to his hotel room. He mumbled a thanks and some excuse but once more, he wasn't understandable.

Matthew and Francis sat and watched the football game for awhile.

"Just wondering. Why did you and Alfred bet on Arthur's punching skills? You both know he was in the Navy for awhile…" Francis asked.

"Yeah, I don't really know why Alfred thought he couldn't. I just thought it would be an easy five bucks."

"Is that why Alfred made that comment during the meeting?"

"Doubt it. He's just a dipshit sometimes and happens to say things before thinking."

Francis chuckled for a couple of moments before turning his attention back to the game. Matthew, however, slowly lost his attention to the city view in the window behind the television. He thought about the day's events and how a seeming average day turned into a relatively interesting one. He took Sofie to the coffee shop down the street and somehow, hours later, they ended up on the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was easy for Matthew to be around her and the conversation never seemed to stop.

"I can't believe you have never been to the top. I mean seriously. You haven't experience Paris until you do this." Matthew said to Sofie as he bought their tickets.

"This is only the second time I've been to Paris mon ami," Sofie explained.

"Don't you live in Brussels though? I mean, I'm across the pond and I've been here more than you have…"

Sofie laughed as they entered the mostly glass crowded elevator.

"Just because I live closer doesn't mean that I've had the ability to explore places like Paris. I haven't been to many places outside of Belgium, other than a couple of places in Africa and Spain."

"Well, why? The world and the many cultures it holds are so interesting!"

"It's complicated…" Sofie replied, shrugging. Matthew could tell by the tone of her voice that this was the end of the story for now.

They got up to the top, where Matthew pointed out some of Paris' major sites that could be seen.

"Mathieu?" Francis' question pulled Matthew out of his memory, into the present time, where the football game was over and Francis was curiously starting at him.

"Oh. Sorry. The game's over, eh?" Matthew said. "I should go then."

"Okay. But before you go, are you alright? I've been worried about you. You haven't quite been yourself since Felix…"

"I'm fine. Really. I'm fine." Matthew interrupted his friend. Just hearing the name was enough to send Matthew into a spiral of depression. But he could tell that Francis didn't believe his lie. "I'll see you later mon ami."

A few days passed and Matthew soon found himself being dragged to a New York City shopping centre. The conference had ended and both Alfred and Matthew had flown to the city that never sleeps to visit family before going home. Matthew never particularly liked shopping with Alfred, usually because it left him alone in the food court as Alfred flirted with the numerous girls shopping. This time was no exception, as Alfred walked away from the food court with two girls under his arms.

Matthew decided to just find a coffee shop nearby and read instead of miserably starting into space in the food court. Luckily, since New Yorkers seemed to like their coffee, it wasn't long until he found one close to the centre. The smell of coffee engulfed him as he entered and the sound of music and conversation flooded his ears. He ordered a coffee and bought a newspaper from the highly caffeinated barista when he felt his phone buzz.

That's odd… He thought. It's way too early for Al to notice I'm gone and I just talked to Francis this morning.

However, despite almost never talking to anyone outside his family besides Francis nowadays, there was a text from Sofie. She had managed to somehow add her number, along with a picture, into his phone without him realizing it. The text read:

Hey, what's up?

Oh, not much. Just chilling in an NYC Starbucks. You?Matthew replied.

Not much either. Just hanging out at home. How was the flight back?

Not bad. Alfred slept the entire way because I snuck him a couple sleeping pills. Which made the trip so much more enjoyable.

Hahaha, nice. He's rather… Interesting.

Interesting, eh? That's one word to describe him

True true. When do you come back to Paris?

Euh. The next conference is in a couple months and in London. But I may come visit Francis soon. Why?

Because touring Paris with you was fun. I never realized how much of the city I missed.

Why haven't you ever explored it before yourself?

Um. I have to go, but let me know when you come to visit!

That was strange. Matthew thought but his confusion quickly disappeared when someone sat across from him at the table.

"Hey."

The familiar voice brought back so many heartbreaking memories. In the midst of the flashbacks, Matthew's first actual thought was how did he find me here.

Not wanting to deal with Felix, Matthew stood up and started to walk out but before he could, a hand grabbed his arm.

"Matt. Like, please. I want to talk. It's been like, a month and you totally haven't spoken to me."

"It's been 2 weeks and I haven't spoken to you because I can't handle speaking to you." Matthew limply tugged at his arm but it wasn't necessary. Felix let go with a look of pain.

"But. Matt. Please, can we talk about things? I miss you!"

"Oh, that's bullshit. You have two and a half years to talk. I guess you were too busy fooling around to pay attention." Matthew felt his anger getting the best of him, which usually never happened. All of the hurt and anger that he had been burying over the past 2 weeks started to come out. "Go away Felix. I don't want to talk anymore."

"Wait. Like, where are you going Mattie?" Felix looked shocked at his ex.

"Paris."